VIP-only Server?

[NinjaNeed]

Lol.

Just lol.

This

[Tumarek]

...snip...Does being VIP make the person "better" then f2p no, but it should entitle you to something...snip...

Nope it doesnt entitle you to more then is stated in the contract ... you get what you pay for.

The free to play is a nice gimmick to draw attention and swell a fan base, but long term its paying customers that make a business model of any company work.

No its not a gimmick... it actually saved the game from beeing discontinued and it continues to bring many paying customers to the game. The point is that people who learn to enjoy the game as F2P will become loyal customers. And lots of people are not willing to subscribe (creditcard information and all) to just test a game. Finding out if a game suits you normally takes longer then the 1-2 weeks free tryouts other games have.

[Illiain]

with friends without worrying about lag they don't pay for, among other benefits.

Discuss.

So how is it that premium players are not paying for the game, when they spend $25-50 every couple months for point bundles and buy content instead of $10-15/month to rent content?

[Carpone]

A VIP only server doesn't fit within Turbine's money making model.

[PwnHammer40K]

I'm sure everyone remembers how the rest of the gameworld crawled to a half whenever the dragon went up during Mabar.

What's someone to do when they just want to be able to play the game they're paying for, whenever something like that goes down?

As much as you might like to believe so, server resources aren't unlimited. It'd be stupid to expect to continue bringing in as many free players as want to sign up without affecting the quality of the service for existing subscribers in any way.

Creating a paid-entry-only world will be no worse than starting a regular new F2P+P2P world.

...

I say no, because I've bought everything this game has to offer without going VIP, even a character slot. I've spent quite a bit of money to take advantage of the 50 dollar double bonus points every single time it comes up. Why does that constitute that you should get another perk, and I should not? You're not offering any valid points to further separate a VIP from Premium account. Then you're getting upset that no one wants to participate in a discussion that is completely one-sided.

To reiterate, get over it.

Maybe you should ask Turbine to take the option of monthly subscriptions down, then, and to stop calling it "VIP."

huh? Why am I required to offer any valid points to further separate a VIP from Premium? It's not like I'm concocting the possibility of a "VIP" service out of nowhere, it's a **** option ALREADY being offered by the company themselves and marketed as so!

The discussion is not completely one-side because Turbine have already agreed: VIP is meant to be better than the other 2 tiers of access. Hence, you know, the "V.I.P." You should take it up with them if you have issues with the term. I just paid for what they offered, and you can't seriously say you're expecting any customers of any product to just stop asking for a better service, or are you?

[PwnHammer40K]

2) Really?
So because i'm a premium I'm not allowed in your VIP club because you possible spend more money? Making a new server for VIP would be a slap to the face of all loyal premium players, of whom many are spending a similar amount of $ on the game.

That is a valid concern. I'm not suggesting "Premium" players (who just pay only as much as they wish to and only when they need it) should be treated like 2nd-class citizens, but I also don't believe that the so-called "VIP" tier should be gimped just to make Premiums feel good either.

With the introduction of 1-month-at-a-time subscriptions and Turbine Points from 3rd-party resellers, VIPs have kind of lost the assurance of being a recurring source of payment for Turbine by a little bit.

If the gap between Premium & VIP continues to narrow, more and more subscribers are going to see less value in VIP. Hell, even I considered just buying all the content with TP instead of renewing my subscription by another 3 months.

They need something to make the tiers more distinct, without making whats supposed to be the highest tier feel stupid whenever someone smugly mentions "huh I have access to everything and I dont pay every month" as if the VIP was naive not to do the same.

A VIP-only server would be great for that IMO, but I don't know what they could do to keep Premium players from feeling "betrayed" or whatever, because I'm not one.

[PwnHammer40K]

3) No!
Instead of introducing a new server with less lag, the overall server preformance could be upgraded. Also anything that consumes time from general game development is a waste of time Turbine doesnt have.

Computing resources aren't, cannot be, unlimited. New servers are and will be needed eventually.

You think "upgrading the overall server performance" will magically take LESS effort than "introducing a new server with less lag?"

Also, you do realize that people who manage servers are not the same people as the ones that actually develop the game? Honestly.

[PwnHammer40K]

not signed.

segregation in any form is abhorant to me

What about the existing "segregation" across instances and the current servers, or the multi-tier access model?

Let's all become F2P and transfer to [enter favorite world here]! One server to rule them all!!

[PwnHammer40K]

As for your join date being an issue, well the only thing to say to that is, it shows you have only been a member of these forums for 4 months, alot of people take that to mean you have only played for 4 months, therefore only have the knowledge of someone who has played for that long. This is generally true, but as with all generalities there are exceptions.

Well doc, how much "knowledge" do you think an adult human, with access to all the information he needs, should be able to gain in 4 months? 2? 1? Can you quantify that, please, so you claim to have an authority?

Should we talk about Korthos only at 1 month in, PrEs at 2, Greensteel at 3, Epics at 8, and being an ass at 12? Pray tell.

[Darkrok]

I actually agree with the OP. There's a P2P model and a VIP model. The OP's suggestion is one idea of how the VIP service could be set apart. Perhaps the VIP server could even have the occasional live GM event. I'm not saying I view it as something that's a 'must do'...it's just an option to compensate the VIP's subscription.

Now that said, Carpone hit the nail on the head.

A VIP only server doesn't fit within Turbine's money making model.

This explains why I don't think it will ever happen. VIP's are advertisement for VIP service. They're walking billboards. They're more likely to just buy a guest pass for a group member that finds out they don't have content rather than wait for the slot to refill. They're going to open that new quest on elite and make people think, "man, that would be nice if I could do that". Basically, the VIP's (and the P2P's that spend a lot of money) are walking billboards for Turbine that whet the appetite for the F2P players. It's not in Turbine's best interest to move those walking billboards to their own server.

[cedad]

Should we talk about Korthos only at 1 month in, PrEs at 2, Greensteel at 3, Epics at 8, and being an ass at 12? Pray tell.

Seems you're ahead of schedule, at least till november 2011.
The reason why you idea is not good is that the ViP only server already existed in the past... and it did not work.
The launch of the F2P model pretty much saved the game (see how the P2P only european servers died shortly before your arrival. They were totally lag free with a peak frequentation of 30 persons at the same time...

And who would want to go there, leave behind the friends and the guild just to be sure that this character would become unplayable if he ever drop ViP ?
If I ever drop my ViP status, I will still be able to purchase H-orc or monk or char slots and get my char back while with your system, they are forever lost.

So No thanks, I'd rather have a little lag and be able to play an MMOrpg than no lag on a SoloRPG.

[k1ngp1n]

should be able to gain in 4 months?

Just enough to make a suggestion like this?

[Talias006]

I don't get what the "needs" are to be addressed concerning VIP. As a subscriber, you get to utilize almost everything about the game without having to use/buy TP to gain access to amenities such as races, packs, and classes. That's the outright "perk." Plus, you get an extra 500 TP per month (virtually free) to spend on the things that interest you. And you can open quests on Elite instead of grinding through Normal to Hard.

Premium means you bought outright a certain amenity mentioned above. Whether it be one thing, two things or everything. You no longer have to worry about getting it for your account to have access in the future. Not so different from VIP, imo. Both have paid some dues to get where they are. Can open quests on Hard difficulty instead of Normal.

Those two tiers rank higher than the true f2p accounts because they either haven't bought TP to become premium because they didn't want it, couldn't afford it, or decided this wasn't a good fit for them.

Honestly, I don't understand the desire for a VIP only server. Most definitely /not signed.

[KillEveryone]

They had VIP only servers up until Sept 2009.

The game was not in as good health as it is now.

[kilagan800]

They had VIP only servers up until Sept 2009.

The game was not in as good health as it is now.

This answer and the "turbine using vip as ads" should've been said in the beginning. But the rest of the posts are just sophomoric and incoherent garbage. +1 for pwnhammer.

[PwnHammer40K]

They had VIP only servers up until Sept 2009.

The game was not in as good health as it is now.

I don't know what to say to that, except that I'm sure that unlike pre-Sep2009, we now have F2P, Premium, more content, more exposure, and much more to be able to support a single private opt-in server.

[kernal42]

No because, as Carpone points out, it doesn't fit Turbine's business model.

1) Most new players come as F2P. Those that become VIP would not want to swap servers after building characters & friendships
-Free server swap upon becoming VIP could mitigate this, but also complicate things.
2) It's unlikely that any increase in VIP subscriptions would ever offset the costs of running a new server.

Note that item (2) precludes this idea from ever reaching fruition.

-Kernal

[Lerincho]

I was talking about a server with less, preferably no lag, with everyone paying for just their own connection to it, if you're mostly going to play with other subscribing friends anyway.

Lag existed in this game long before any F2P. Lag is a part of every online game. Should have been here for Module 4 and that wonderful experience.

[Lerincho]

No because, as Carpone points out, it doesn't fit Turbine's business model.

1) Most new players come as F2P. Those that become VIP would not want to swap servers after building characters & friendships
-Free server swap upon becoming VIP could mitigate this, but also complicate things.
2) It's unlikely that any increase in VIP subscriptions would ever offset the costs of running a new server.

Note that item (2) precludes this idea from ever reaching fruition.

-Kernal

Ummm... 2 brand new servers were started because of F2P, Orien and Cannith.

[kernal42]

Ummm... 2 brand new servers were started because of F2P, Orien and Cannith.

Yes?

I don't see how that's relevant to my comment, which argues against a VIP server, though.

-Kernal